WHAT’S NEXT? On Oct. 15th, another disturbance is expected to hit Earth’s magnetic field. This time it’s coming from a coronal hole–a gap in the sun’s atmosphere from which solar wind flows.

A G2 (Moderate) Geomagnetic Storm Warning has been issued valid through 13 October at 1800 UTC (2:00 pm ET). G1 (Minor) conditions are already in progress and G1-G2 (Minor-Moderate) conditions are likely to continue overnight. In addition, forecasters have upgraded to a G3 (Strong) Geomagnetic Storm Watch for tomorrow (14 October) as potential for activity as high as G3 levels are possible. Stay tuned for updates on storm activity!

Solar Storm in Progress. The Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field is currently pointing south and this is helping to generate minor (G1) storm conditions at higher latitudes. Visible aurora is likely across Canada, Alaska and the northern tier of the United States.

WHAT’S NEXT? On Oct. 15th, another disturbance is expected to hit Earth’s magnetic field. This time it’s coming from a coronal hole–a gap in the sun’s atmosphere from which solar wind flows.

At the leading edge of the emerging solar wind stream is a co-rotating interaction region (CIR)–that is, a transition zone between slow- and fast-moving solar wind. Shock waves and density gradients in CIRs often do a good job sparking auroras, so when it arrives on Oct. 15th polar auroras are likely.